New Delhi, Aug. 14 -- DHAKA - The pandal went up before most of the club's members had any idea what it was for. By Wednesday evening, workers had set the structure in the garden of Bangladesh's National Press Club in the capital, its frame rising above rows of chairs and a stage prepared for musicians. The occasion, as people inside the building began to understand, is a qawwali concert. The date is August 14. That is Pakistan's Independence Day.

Sources within the club say the event has been funded by the Pakistan Embassy in Dhaka, with a reported allocation of roughly 2 million Bangladeshi taka. No official documentation confirming the amount or the funding arrangement had been shared with the general membership by Wednesday evening. ...